Rookies not playing would leave massively in already-awful offense
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll said Friday morning that he is “hopeful” wide receiver Malik Nabers (toe) and running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (ankle) will play Sunday vs. the Indianapolis Colts.
Neither player practiced earlier in the week, but were expected to be on the field in a limited capacity during Friday’s practice.
If the Giants want to have any legitimate hope of winning their third game of the season and avoiding becoming the first team in NFL history to go 0-9 at home they need both rookies to play. On an offense that has scored the fewst points in the league, Nabers and Tracy are by far the team’s most productive players.
Nabers has 969 receiving yards. He can become the Giants’ first 1,000-yard receiver since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018 with 31 more receiving yards.
Nabers needs three catches to become the first rookie receiver in franchise history to reach 100. That would also make him the first receiver since Beckham, with 101 receptions in 2018 to hit the century mark.
Nabers needs just eight receptions to tie the rookie record of 105 receptions, set just last year by Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams. Nabers trails Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers (101 receptions) by four catches. Both seem destined to break that mark.
Nabers is also within reach of Steve Smith’s single-season franchise record of 107 receptions. Smith set that mark in 2009.
Tracy, a fifth-round pick, has 721 rushing yards and needs only 16 yards to hit 1,000 total scrimmage yards despite touching the ball only 16 times in the season’s first four weeks.
Four players will not practice:
Center John Michael Schmitz (ankle), cornerback Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin), safety Raheem Layne (knee), and linebackerMicah McFadden (neck). Daboll told media there is a “good chance they don’t” play on Sunday.
